Summary: Illua. The Neukhia. The power in Luso’s journal. A nu mou friend from FFTA. Unlocking the lanista and ravager jobs.
-We leave, and this is a whole new map! Zellea, the Forbidden Land. With such tourist attractions as the Footfalls of Despair and the Dance of the Candleflies.
-The Dance of the Candleflies is the exit back to our world. A glowing crystal in the void.
-Lezaford meets us on the other side. We return to his home.
---
Lezaford’s Cabin (main)
-Lezaford used that magicite piece we’d chased to create the Judges.
-Illua doesn’t seem like a “I need power to RULE MWAHAHA” type. More likely, “I need power to keep the world safe from shit like Neukhia McDemonhand.” That would explain why she panicked and tried to immediately destroy the grimoire.
-Lezaford calls the area we just left Jagd Zellea.
-Adelle recognizes it. Pirate legend says there’s a treasure to let one rule the world there.
-Jagd often serves as a gateway. The power of those rifts blew Zellea off on its own.
-Mages knew of this power and sought to bind the rifts with magick. Luso’s tome is one such binding book.
-Huh. I thought Illua failed to harm the book. Apparently, she cut it in two.
-Luso’s journal is the Grimoire of the Rift. Title drop!
-Cid thinks she wants to use the power of the rifts. The book is the thing that seals rifts, so maybe she wants rift power and also wants to destroy whatever could stop her.
-wait LUSO is powering the book? It writes the story of his life.
-This freaks Luso out, but Lezaford calms him. Says to just keep doing his thing, living his life. That normal life – meeting people, doing things – gives the book its power.
LEZAFORD: “When the time comes, you will write the final words. And so will end your story in this world. I believe you know why. Another world, still beyond your sight, awaits you.” The real world.
Well, not quite. I think this Ivalice is real in a way that the FFTA Ivalice was not. Another world, not “the real world.”
-The party walks out the door… but Adelle walks back in to ask Lezaford something in private.
FADE TO BLACK BOOOO. What could she want to know from him?
Theory time: I don’t think there’s anything mystical about Adelle’s purpose. I expect her questions are more mundane (and not at all unimportant).
-Back in town, Hurdy finds an interesting new quest in the clockwork moogle town of Goug.
I wasn’t sure whether Goug was in ruins like it would be in FFT or whether it was a town in its prime. Sounds like a bit of both. It’s a lively, lived-in town, but it also has lots of old parts.
-There’s a survey to dig up some older parts. He’s seeking an old instrument.
---
Notices, Rumors, & Side Quests
-A quest takes me to Goug. A moogle is working to make a metal giant. Sort of.
The Clockwork City of Goug.
“He’s not really all that big. He’s about, well, about my height, kupo.”
-A notice talks of legendary dragons. A horde of monsters were ravaging the land, until three dragons obliterated them. The three were blessed as protectors.
-I find them angry and awake in the Aldanna Range. Three “Mutadragons.” They’re surprisingly articulate.
Though it’s unfortunate that what they articulate is their believe that the mortal races must die for the misery they cause.
-There’s a rumor about a “Seeker of Slaughter.” If you trade him information around the month of Plumfrost, he trades you… something. I don’t find him this month. Will check the eastern continent next year.
-WHOA WTF! I got an item called Earrings of the Dead with the ability: “Summon Zalera.” Like, the Death Seraph Zalera. OK THEN.
-OH THAAAAT’S what a Smash Gauge is for.
-LOLOL – I’m sent to capture an alchemist accused of scamming. I do so… but it’s the wrong one. The right alchemist approaches afterwards.
It’s Ezel Berbier, the law card dude from FFTA. He offers me a card to protect my judge. :D
-Lots of these side quests focus on confronting Khamja in various small criminal activities.
Cid’s familiarity with Khamja – and personal history with Illua – makes me think he used to be part of Khamja. Maybe even a co-founded.
-The Stone With No Name quest continues and leads to one more secret area, and a secret boss. The FFXII-version of Demon Wall.
-I come across a morally tricky quest. Someone wants a potion to zombify themselves and help forget a memory. A witch tells me if I kill zombies in an area, I can get a powder to fulfill that request, but Ezel Berbier says I can just kill rabbits and get a simple memory forgetting potion.
Which to do, if I have to pick one? I’ll trust the questgiver and get the zombie powder. After all, we saw that one good and lonely zombie wandering. Maybe the questgiver wants to comfort them.
---
Ravager (ravager unlock)
-A ravager wants to challenge me. For fun, I think. Rawr!
-It’s a speed battle against this ravager. The mark is the mother of the antlion we killed earlier.
-Sure we win the speed battle but whatever, even more important is HOW GREAT THIS NPC IS.
She’s exuberant and confident and I wish she joined my party permanently.
---
A Lanista’s Pride (lanista unlock)
-Someone feels affronted for unnamed reasons and wants my help addressing this grievous wrong.
-Her adversary: the Bonga Bugle’s sleazy editor and owner. They slandered lanistas. She wants REVENGE.
-Lanistas seem sort of dark knight-ish. I love that their representative here in FFTA2 is no brooder. He’s a pop music superfan obsessed with the group Prima Donna, who goes to all their shows.
I DEMAND this of all future FF entries. Dragoons all jump, white mages all heal, and dark knights all love pop music.
This is true retroactively. Cecil is a Backstreet Boys fanatic. Leon in FFII covers his walls with Girls’ Generation posters.
---
Next time: Goug.
---
A Request (main)
-An unnamed person sent us a request to meet them in the Ruins of Delgantua. They ID themselves as the person who sent us the magicite. My money is that this is a trap from Ewen.
-Yup. Trap. The blue-haired person who tried recruiting Adelle is here.
-Cid recognizes her as Illua, a Khamja member.
-I was also right why Cid perked his ears when he heard about the baron’s poisoning turning his nail’s blue. That’s an effect of Illua’s signature poison.
-Illua says that the magicite is a catalyst for magick to break into the baron’s manse.
-I see. The baron had made moves against Khamja, who retaliated.
-Cid tries to make us leave, but lol. Yeah. That’s not happening. We got your back, buddy!
-At the start of the fight, Illua magickally disables the judge.
-Ewen is here. Seems like Ewen is the hired hand and Illua the boss.
-Yuuup. I took out Ewen and Illua’s response: “A shame… I do so hate to lose a piece, even a mere pawn.”
-When we defeat her, she tries the “we’re the same” villain pitch, but Cid replies that she was always power hungry.
She (sorta?) denies it.
ILLUA: “The world needs people with power… be they many or few.” Illua thinks the world needs her because the power chose her. Maybe she just thinks it’s her responsibility to use it.
-She lets out some burst of power and Luso’s journal resonates.
-ILLUA FREAKS THE FUCK OUT! She calls his journal a “grimoire” and strikes at it, but it bounces her back.
-The journal erupts with light… and transports us to the place from the shared vision.
---
The Rift (main)
-The journal is gone.
-A disembodied voice calls out. “You there… is that you, Luso?” HI LEZAFORD!
-He’s only here in spirit. Warns us to leave this place ASAP, that it’s dangerous.
-OKAY THAT’S TERRIFYING. A portal opens and a TITANIC DEMON HAND reaches out.
The FF series is good at playing on my fear of titanic beings. It’s somehow worse when you just see a part of them. Like the FFIV Evil Mask enemy that was just a head, but you saw the rest of it’s monstrous body in the sequel.
-The zone is “The Rift.” Maybe Gilgamesh is here.
-There are some buttons on the side of the room that charge up a mage cannon to help me take it out. (The demon hand is “the Neukhia.”)
A Request (main)
-An unnamed person sent us a request to meet them in the Ruins of Delgantua. They ID themselves as the person who sent us the magicite. My money is that this is a trap from Ewen.
-Yup. Trap. The blue-haired person who tried recruiting Adelle is here.
-Cid recognizes her as Illua, a Khamja member.
-I was also right why Cid perked his ears when he heard about the baron’s poisoning turning his nail’s blue. That’s an effect of Illua’s signature poison.
-Illua says that the magicite is a catalyst for magick to break into the baron’s manse.
-I see. The baron had made moves against Khamja, who retaliated.
-Cid tries to make us leave, but lol. Yeah. That’s not happening. We got your back, buddy!
-At the start of the fight, Illua magickally disables the judge.
-Ewen is here. Seems like Ewen is the hired hand and Illua the boss.
-Yuuup. I took out Ewen and Illua’s response: “A shame… I do so hate to lose a piece, even a mere pawn.”
-When we defeat her, she tries the “we’re the same” villain pitch, but Cid replies that she was always power hungry.
She (sorta?) denies it.
ILLUA: “The world needs people with power… be they many or few.” Illua thinks the world needs her because the power chose her. Maybe she just thinks it’s her responsibility to use it.
-She lets out some burst of power and Luso’s journal resonates.
-ILLUA FREAKS THE FUCK OUT! She calls his journal a “grimoire” and strikes at it, but it bounces her back.
-The journal erupts with light… and transports us to the place from the shared vision.
---
The Rift (main)
-The journal is gone.
-A disembodied voice calls out. “You there… is that you, Luso?” HI LEZAFORD!
-He’s only here in spirit. Warns us to leave this place ASAP, that it’s dangerous.
-OKAY THAT’S TERRIFYING. A portal opens and a TITANIC DEMON HAND reaches out.
The FF series is good at playing on my fear of titanic beings. It’s somehow worse when you just see a part of them. Like the FFIV Evil Mask enemy that was just a head, but you saw the rest of it’s monstrous body in the sequel.
-The zone is “The Rift.” Maybe Gilgamesh is here.
-There are some buttons on the side of the room that charge up a mage cannon to help me take it out. (The demon hand is “the Neukhia.”)
-We leave, and this is a whole new map! Zellea, the Forbidden Land. With such tourist attractions as the Footfalls of Despair and the Dance of the Candleflies.
-The Dance of the Candleflies is the exit back to our world. A glowing crystal in the void.
-Lezaford meets us on the other side. We return to his home.
---
Lezaford’s Cabin (main)
-Lezaford used that magicite piece we’d chased to create the Judges.
-Illua doesn’t seem like a “I need power to RULE MWAHAHA” type. More likely, “I need power to keep the world safe from shit like Neukhia McDemonhand.” That would explain why she panicked and tried to immediately destroy the grimoire.
-Lezaford calls the area we just left Jagd Zellea.
-Adelle recognizes it. Pirate legend says there’s a treasure to let one rule the world there.
-Jagd often serves as a gateway. The power of those rifts blew Zellea off on its own.
-Mages knew of this power and sought to bind the rifts with magick. Luso’s tome is one such binding book.
-Huh. I thought Illua failed to harm the book. Apparently, she cut it in two.
-Luso’s journal is the Grimoire of the Rift. Title drop!
-Cid thinks she wants to use the power of the rifts. The book is the thing that seals rifts, so maybe she wants rift power and also wants to destroy whatever could stop her.
-wait LUSO is powering the book? It writes the story of his life.
-This freaks Luso out, but Lezaford calms him. Says to just keep doing his thing, living his life. That normal life – meeting people, doing things – gives the book its power.
LEZAFORD: “When the time comes, you will write the final words. And so will end your story in this world. I believe you know why. Another world, still beyond your sight, awaits you.” The real world.
Well, not quite. I think this Ivalice is real in a way that the FFTA Ivalice was not. Another world, not “the real world.”
-The party walks out the door… but Adelle walks back in to ask Lezaford something in private.
FADE TO BLACK BOOOO. What could she want to know from him?
Theory time: I don’t think there’s anything mystical about Adelle’s purpose. I expect her questions are more mundane (and not at all unimportant).
-Back in town, Hurdy finds an interesting new quest in the clockwork moogle town of Goug.
I wasn’t sure whether Goug was in ruins like it would be in FFT or whether it was a town in its prime. Sounds like a bit of both. It’s a lively, lived-in town, but it also has lots of old parts.
-There’s a survey to dig up some older parts. He’s seeking an old instrument.
---
Notices, Rumors, & Side Quests
-A quest takes me to Goug. A moogle is working to make a metal giant. Sort of.
The Clockwork City of Goug.
“He’s not really all that big. He’s about, well, about my height, kupo.”
-A notice talks of legendary dragons. A horde of monsters were ravaging the land, until three dragons obliterated them. The three were blessed as protectors.
-I find them angry and awake in the Aldanna Range. Three “Mutadragons.” They’re surprisingly articulate.
Though it’s unfortunate that what they articulate is their believe that the mortal races must die for the misery they cause.
-There’s a rumor about a “Seeker of Slaughter.” If you trade him information around the month of Plumfrost, he trades you… something. I don’t find him this month. Will check the eastern continent next year.
-WHOA WTF! I got an item called Earrings of the Dead with the ability: “Summon Zalera.” Like, the Death Seraph Zalera. OK THEN.
-OH THAAAAT’S what a Smash Gauge is for.
-LOLOL – I’m sent to capture an alchemist accused of scamming. I do so… but it’s the wrong one. The right alchemist approaches afterwards.
It’s Ezel Berbier, the law card dude from FFTA. He offers me a card to protect my judge. :D
-Lots of these side quests focus on confronting Khamja in various small criminal activities.
Cid’s familiarity with Khamja – and personal history with Illua – makes me think he used to be part of Khamja. Maybe even a co-founded.
-The Stone With No Name quest continues and leads to one more secret area, and a secret boss. The FFXII-version of Demon Wall.
-I come across a morally tricky quest. Someone wants a potion to zombify themselves and help forget a memory. A witch tells me if I kill zombies in an area, I can get a powder to fulfill that request, but Ezel Berbier says I can just kill rabbits and get a simple memory forgetting potion.
Which to do, if I have to pick one? I’ll trust the questgiver and get the zombie powder. After all, we saw that one good and lonely zombie wandering. Maybe the questgiver wants to comfort them.
---
Ravager (ravager unlock)
-A ravager wants to challenge me. For fun, I think. Rawr!
-It’s a speed battle against this ravager. The mark is the mother of the antlion we killed earlier.
-Sure we win the speed battle but whatever, even more important is HOW GREAT THIS NPC IS.
She’s exuberant and confident and I wish she joined my party permanently.
---
A Lanista’s Pride (lanista unlock)
-Someone feels affronted for unnamed reasons and wants my help addressing this grievous wrong.
-Her adversary: the Bonga Bugle’s sleazy editor and owner. They slandered lanistas. She wants REVENGE.
-Lanistas seem sort of dark knight-ish. I love that their representative here in FFTA2 is no brooder. He’s a pop music superfan obsessed with the group Prima Donna, who goes to all their shows.
I DEMAND this of all future FF entries. Dragoons all jump, white mages all heal, and dark knights all love pop music.
This is true retroactively. Cecil is a Backstreet Boys fanatic. Leon in FFII covers his walls with Girls’ Generation posters.
---
Next time: Goug.
